Draft gear



Sept. 4, 1928. v 1,682,817

E. H. WALKER 7 DRAFT GEAR Filed Jan. 18, 192s Patented Sept. 4, 1928.

,nnnrr GEAR.

Application filed January 18, 1923. SBriaI NO. 613,356.

M; invcntion relates to friction draft gear and involves the-productionofianiinproved spring barrel *for i use with :attaoh- ITJYBIltS of theFarlow type.

"Anobject of the invention is to provide a barrel or casing, ofinovelshape with .a greater transverse dimension, in oneodireo tion thaninthcbtherztnd relatively; thicle ened iniparts to afford better supportfor the m I well known Sessions friction head 01"b0X, said: barrel beingarrangedvwi'th its greater dimension disposed beneath the wider por tionof the iriction head wherebvthe thickened partsof: the barrelserve toeffectively resist both transverse and longitudinal strains imparted: tothe" barrel under service conditions.

The invention has for another object the provision of; a cast--steel"barrel for friction g draftgear saidbarrel being formed with-aplurality otside Wall portions, some of said portionsbeing increasedinjthickness and arranged to serve as columns extendingirom the widerportion ofthe barrel under the extreme edges of the friction head, andback to the yoke contacting surfaces, said colunnr thicknesses beingpreferably disposed along the narrower sides of the barrel.

A further object of my invention is to provide a strong, durable andinexpensive spring barrel of comparative lightwe ght,

the same being cast octagonal in shape. with p the diagonally disposedportions of the barrel walls being increased in cross sectional area toprovide (a pair. of columns of great strength value relatively closeto'each center sill, thereby providing complete contact, be tween andsupport for, the barrel and" friction head.

to provide a closed end barrel with external corner portions arranged;to fit. the radiipf hav ng a series of W sa d a horizontal yoke andinternal reinforcing ribs arrangedin end, some of said ribs being"disposed to form apluralityof transverse strengthening members or webswhich extend across "the' bit A still further object of my invention isguide the spring; and front spring follower 1n the-i barrel, and beinglocated at points where; the barrelis .wideri thanvthe external diameterof the spring.

The invention'ii'urther consists in the combinatlon, ,arrangement andconstruction of the several parts hereinafter describe'd and pointed outin the claims. l

In the drawings :WllELBlIl simi-lar reference characters "designatecorresponding partsdm the several views: Y

Figure lhis a; plan view of the railway draft rigging showing -myimprovdbzirrel applied to the friction draft gear 'Ine'cha n1sinforminga part of said draft-rigging.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sec tional I view through a--spr-ing-barrel -constructed in accordance with present invention.

Figure is a view lookingf'from the open end of thebarrel into theinterior thereof.

"Figure 4 is a horizontal longitndinalsec tional view of the barrel onthe line' 4 -'4: of Figure 2. v

Eigure 5 3 is anvelevation of thebarrisl viewed from theclosed endthereof.

lteferring to the ldrawing,j I have shown my invention embodied within adraft rigging of the two keyflllarlow type. The center sills ,or draftsills are indicatedt by the numeral 1 and are ,each provided with cheeklates2, said sills andcheek plates; being suitably slotted to permit therelative move-- ments of the keys inqthe usual manner. j Positionedbetween the sills isuthe hartzontal yoke3,fthe"iorward ends, of theyolrearmsbeing slottedgto, receive afkey t-avhich connects :the couplerhwithsaid yolre and V also extends intothe,alinedslots injthe sijlls andcheek plates. Anotherjkey Be tends through the second series of slotsinthe sills and cheelr plates, said second named keyalso passing throughslots, providedinthe yoke armsland the follower block ,7 interposedbetween the butt of the coupler end thei friction device. A rear-stopmemberolf back stop Sis provided with which the rear of theyokecontacts.

1 he friction device shown is, of the Sesde tyre an ompri e lT 9l'l9 n-e l l r box having contained therein a, plurality of'friction elementsindicated generally by the numeral 10 f 1 1. The "friction t e w it p tsolvent the and 1 n'ovit ed with u rear'wurdly" a rag prw jections 11adapted to engage the forward end of my improved barrel 12 with whichthe friction -head contacts and in which is contained thecushioningdevice of the gear.

Referring to Figures 3 to 5, the present construction of spring barrelor casing comprises a plurality of side wall portions can tendinglongitudinally of the barrel, said side wall portions being arranged toform a multi-sided shell member having a greater transverse dimension inone direction than in the other, that is to say. two dimensions arrangedat right angles to each other and passing through the longitudinalcenter of the barrel, are of unequal length. The barrel is arranged withthe longer transverse dimension vertical and the shorter transversedimension horizontal, as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 5, In my presentembod1- ment of multi-sided barrel. I have arranged the several wallportions to form an octagonally shaped shell or casing, the diagonalportions 13 of the wall being arranged to unite the horizontallydisposed wall portions 14 and the vertically disposed wall portions 15.

Portions of the side walls of the barrel are increased in crosssectional area, said portions being shown herein as the d'agonal orangularly arranged side wall portions 13. These increased or thickenedareas of the barrel are preferably spaced apart and locatedadvantageously between the friction head and the contacting portions ofthe yoke, thereby providing greater column strength for resisting thestrains to which the barrel is subjected under service conditions. Inaddition, the location of the increased area near the outer ends of thewidest portions of the friction head serves to, provide a verystrollgsupport for said head at points which receive great stress.

.T he barrel is open at 1ts forward end and contacts the rear face oredgeof the friction head or box. and is formed at its other end with asubstantially closed wall 16. The forming of the closed bottom integralwith the side wall portions of the barrel provides a simpleconstruction, the standard A. R. A.

measurements being followed so that the relative thickness of the closedend wall equals that of the usual follower for which my presentconstruction is substituted. The end wall 16 is united with the sidewall portions of the barrel and more particularly the oppositevertically disposed portions 15 thereof, the corners at the junctions ofsaid portions being rounded or curved to engage the curves of the cornerbends of the yoke, as shown in Figure 1. The opposite horizontallydisposed side wall portions 14 are also united with the closed bottom orend wall of the barrel, the corners at the junctions of said portionsbeing rounded but on different and less radii, as shown in Figure posedyoke slidabl said barrel having :1

2. The end wall 16 is preferably formed with extensions 17, saidextensions being located at the junctions of the diagonal wall portions13 with the vertical wall portions 15 and arranged to form a maximumseat area for the yoke.

The interior of the barrel and particularly the closed end wall portion16 s reinforced with a series of advantageously disposed ribs, said ribsbeing arranged to provide at least two transversely extendingreinforcing members 18 suit-ably intersected by annularly arranged ribs19. which latter form seats for the cushioning springs. A veiticalreinforcing web 20. which also intersects the annular ribbing, may beprovided, as shown in Figure 3. Guide ribs are preferably provided inthe wider portion of the barrel to support and maintain the springscentrally thereof for cooperation w th the other parts of the gear. Theguide ribs shown at 21 are located at the rear of the barrel adjacentthe end wall and the guide ribs indicated at 22 are arranged at the forward end of the barrel, said forwardly arranged ribs being of sufiicientlength to allow for all spring compression and effectively guide thespring at all times. A

The opening in the end wall 16 of the barrel serves to lighten thecasting without deleterious] y reducing its strength value and also aidsin supporting the core used in molding the barrel.

In the foregoing description of the present embodiment of my invention,it is to be understood that the terms are to be taken in theirdescriptive sense and not in their limitmg sense.

I claim:

1. In a draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills, of ahorizontally disposed yoke slidably connected thereto, means engagingthe closed end of said yoke to limitmovement thereof in one direction.cushioning mechanism within said yoke including a spring barrel, saidbarre] having a closed end adapted to conform to and fit within theclosed end of said yoke, and means for reinforcing the closed end ofsaid barrel, said means including a plurality of circularly arrangedribs.

2. In a draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills, of ahorizontally disconnected thereto, means connecting the sil s andengaging the closed end ofsaid yoke to limit the movement thereof in onedirection, cushioning mechanism Within said yoke, said mechanismincluding a friction head and a spring barrel, closed end adapted toconform to and fit within the closed end of the said yoke, and means forreinforcing the closed end of said barrel, said means comprisingtransversel extendin ribs and a plurality of circular y arrange ribs.

llu

3. In a draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills, of ahorizontally disposed yoke slidably connected thereto, means engagingthe closed end of said yoke to limit the movement thereof in onedirection, cushioning mechanism within said yoke, said mechanismcomprising a friction head and a springbarrel interposed between saidhead ill) and the closed end of said yoke, said spring barrel having apair of side walls arranged substantially parallel to said yoke arms,and a. pair of walls at right angles thereto, sa d last named pairhaving reinforcing long1- tudinal ribs on their inner faces adjacent theopposite ends thereof, and means for closing the end of said barreladjacent the closed end of the yoke, the ribs at the opposite endshaving their adjacent ends spaced apart.

4. In a draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills, of ahorizontally disposed yoke slidably connected thereto, means engagingthe closed end of said yoke to limit movement thereof in one direction,cushioning mechanism within said yoke including a friction head and aspring barrel interposed between the same and the closed end of theyoke, said spring barrel having side walls and a closed end, andreinforcing means for the closed end including a plurality of concentric circular ribs and a plurality of transverse ribs intersectingthe circular ribs and connected with the sides of the barrel.

5. A spring barrel for friction draft gear formed with an end wall, sidewalls and top and bottom walls, the distance between the top and bottomwalls being greater than that between the side walls and said top andbottom walls being provided with combined reinforcing and spring guidingribs adjacent the open end of the barrel and the end wall thereof, saidribs being sufficiently long to allow for spring compression in thebarrel and the confronting edges thereof being spaced to correspond withthe spacing between the side walls.

6. A spring barrel for friction draft gear formed with top, bottom andside walls and an end wall, the side walls being more closely spacedthan the top and bottom walls, and the top and bottom walls beingprovided with combined reinforcing spring guiding ribs adjacent bothends, said ribs at the closed end merging into said end wall, and theconfronting edges of the ribs being spaced to correspond with thespacing between the side walls of the barrel.

7 A spring barrel for friction draft gear formed with an end wallclosing the rear portion of said barrel, side walls, top and bottomwalls and inclined walls joining said top and bottom walls with saidside walls,

the outer surface of said end wall being curved at the sides thereof tolit the U shaped portion of a cooperating yoke and provided withextensions from the side walls thereof beyond the intersections with theinclined walls to increase the bearing area presented to the yoke.

8. A spring barrel for friction draft gear formed with top. bottom andside walls and closed at one end by an end wall, said end wall. beingformed for cooperation with a horizontal yoke and reinforced bysubstantially horizontal ribs extending thereacross on the inner surfacethereof adjacent the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the bearingsurface provided for said yoke.

9. A spring barrel for friction draft gear formed with top, bottom andside walls and closed at one end by an end wall integral with said top,bottom and side walls, said end wall being formed to seat a plurality ofcoaxially arranged springs on the inner surface thereof, and thoseportions thereof adapted for engagement with said springs beingreinforced by concentric annular ribs.

10. A spring barrel for friction draft gear octagonal in cross sectionand comprising top, bottom and side walls joined by longitudinallydisposed diagonal wall portions, one end of said barrel being closed byan end wall, said end wall being shaped to conform with the innersurface of a cooperating yoke and being increased in depth for the fullwidth of the spring barrel by extensions from the side walls beyond theintersections of the diagonal walls there wit 1.

11. A spring barrel for draft gear having side walls and top and bottomwalls con nected by inclined portions, said inclined portions being ofgreater cross sectional area than the side walls and top and bottomwalls to provide additional strength for resisting strains transmittedby a friction head having portions engaging said inclined portions, andan integral end wall for engagement within a. yoke.

12. A. spring barrel for draft gear having side walls and top and bottomwalls, said side walls having inclined extensions therefrom joining withthe top and bottom walls, said extensions being increased incrosssectional area, and all of said walls joined integrally with a rearwall for closing the end of said barrel, said end wall being reinforcedby vertical ribs extending therealong and continuing along the top andbottom walls, respectively, to form spring guiding means.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDMUND H. WALKER.

